Leo was born in a sibko on Huntress in 3004 and excelled throughout his training, becoming a distinguished MechWarrior from a young age. Leo's ambition and ferocity was evident from the earliest days of his youth; in one battle on the planet Tranquil a young Ulric Kerensky only narrowly defeated Star Captain Leo, at the cost of losing nearly every OmniMech in his heavy Trinary. Some years later, when Leo had earned the Showers bloodname and risen to Galaxy Commander, he met Ulric again on Strana Mechty, offering to use his influence with Clan Wolf's Crusader faction to assist Ulric's career in exchange for an attack upon the Smoke Jaguar holding on Kirin, defended by Leo's closest rival for the Khanship. Ulric politely declined the deal, and while Leo seemingly accepted this without offense subsequent events made Ulric wonder if his lifelong enmity with the Jaguar Khan began that day.[2]

In addition to his gifts as a warrior, Showers also proved himself a master politician and orator. This combination propelled to the Khanship of his Clan in 2029, aged just 25, yet Showers hungered for more: he wanted his Clan to become the ilClan and himself to attain the rank of ilKhan.[3][4]

For the next two decades, Showers and Ulric Kerensky opposed each other at every turn in the Grand Council. Showers pushed for an invasion of the Inner Sphere every chance he had, while Kerensky upheld the Warden position and stymied him at every turn. Showers grew obsessed with two goals during this period: leading an invasion of the Inner Sphere and humiliating Kerensky in the process. His oratorical gifts aided him greatly in converting many other Clan warriors and Khans, even those of rival Clans, to the Crusader cause, and while his arguments lacked logic, Showers' charisma made up for this. Thus, over time, Ulric and other devout Wardens saw the Grand Council slide ever closer to supporting Showers' call for invasion.[5]

Nonetheless, Showers was unsuccessful until fate delivered him a trump card: the unexpected appearance and seizure of the Outbound Light over Huntress. The Jaguar Khan had the Explorer Corps personnel interrogated in secret for several days before informing the Grand Council of this event. Armed with the only current information about the Inner Sphere, Showers manipulated what he had learned to inform the other Khans that Houses Steiner and Davion were beginning to form a new Star League without the Clans' involvement, and suggested that the Outbound Light was proof that the Inner Sphere had both the capacity and intention to invade the Clan Homeworlds. In short order, the Grand Council voted sixteen to one in favor of mounting a preemptive invasion of the Inner Sphere; only Ulric Kerensky remained unconvinced of an impending invasion. He also asked Showers if he secretly felt that the Clans were so weak they could not defend themselves against the barbarians their ancestors had left behind; Showers, Kerensky later believed, never forgave him for the implied insult.[6]

In his position of ilKhan, he created the initial Invasion Corridors for the Clans deemed worthy to start the invasion. During Operation Revival, instead of traveling on his own Clan's flagship the Saber Cat, he traveled aboard the Clan Wolf flagship Dire Wolf, in order to keep the little liked or trusted Warden Khan Ulric Kerensky under his thumb. His presence on the front helped to quell any potential infighting and dissent from within the Clans.

"The thought of the Star League being reborn without our divine input and guiding hand is appalling. It eats at my very soul. We must not wait, we must seize the initiative while it is still within our grasp."